A Chance to Shine
by caramelstorm
Summary: She was strong, she was independant. SO how come she was never known? At least not until now, just what will become of Tenten? What will she choose?
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my new story, as usual I own nothing, not even the words I write with. Words belong to everyone. This will be a bit diffrent than my previous stories as there will be a diffrent star! I present to you the fabulous Tenten!!!! insert clapping As for her pairing, I'll let you the readers decide; I myself, like Kankuten and LeeTen, but I'm open to just about all pairings for her (regardless of gender). So submit away.**

**A Chance to Shine**

It had been a long time since Tenten was noticed, since she could be picked out of a crowd by her fellow students, and even then it was because she was with her team mates. Her friends, both of which were pretty famous in the village. Neji Hyuuga, possibly the strongest of the Hyuuga clan; Rock Lee Konoha's second Beautiful Green Beast with his mentor and their sensei Maito Gai. While they all seemed to stand in the lime light she was behind the curtains, constantly struggling for a place on stage.

At one point it seemed, that she might have been the second strongest member of her genin team, but that was before Lee discovered his strength. Now all the things she had said to him were invalid, and rather they applied to her. She had had one chance to prove that she was strong, that she was truly the best female genin of the village a chance to become a chunin, ages ago. But it was that humiliating fight with Sabaku No Temari that ruined her, nothing she threw at the sand-nin made contact and Tenten was literally blown away. Only to take a hit to the back as she came crashing back to earth. Needless to say, she didn't move on to the next round.

But it was that experiance that became her drive to get stronger. She pushed herself, day after day, night after night to try to catch up to her team mates, but it seemed that the stronger she got the father behind them she seemed to fall. They were still pushing themselves further. Secretly devastated by this she kept training, she knew that others were doing the same. Naruto had gone off to train ages ago and was back in the village, they had been on missions with him and Sakura, who by far had grown the most. Under Tunade's watchful eye, the rose haired brat had grown into a powerful woman. So where did this leave Tenten? She was still unnoticed, she had helped to fight Kisame, hadn't she? She'd also faught herself and won. Was this not a good enough feat? And yet her team mates fame seemed to grow, and she doubted that she would ever catch up.

And so that is how our story began, in blood, sweat and tears. In pain, death, sorrow and bliss.

"Hah!" Tenten's voice escaped from her as she breathed roughly. She'd been out here for hours just attacking the targets and shadow clones of herself, neither Neji or Lee was anywhere to be seen. Neji was at the Hyuuga compound train alone, as per usual, and Lee was off on a mission with Naruto and Sakura. Which left her to train alone, again. Sweat clung to her body and she had long since cast off her longsleeved chinese style shirt, leaving her only in the bandages that held her chest in place and her billowy pants that clung to her ankles tightly. A black sythe with a sharp, polished silver blade was clutched tightly in her hands. With one fluid motion she struck it out and snapped the poor training dummy in half. And moving quickly she was slicing the next in half before the first hit the ground. Her cerulean eyes took a quick glance around her to asess the positioning of her "foes". She moved quickly on the tips of her toes and struck out at the third dummy with her right foot, before sliding the blade of the sythe through it's straw stomach.

Still moving in a dance like motion she lept to the top of a cut tree trunk meant for all to train with and in the blink of an eye brought the dangerous weapon through it. With great strength and concentration she was able to bring the blade through the trunk making a clean cut. And just as the top half began to slide away from the bottom she lept off and stood observing her work.

"Well," Tenten sighed under her breath, "that's enough for today." She swipped her hand across her forehead expelling the sweat that beaded there and began collecting her things.

The weapons mistress made her way through the village and towards her small house, in desperate need for a shower and a good meal. She glanced over at the people of the village and began to wonder just how it came to be that she was unknown to them. She was strong, she knew she was but somehow they just didn't see her. Sighing heavily she produced her house key from the depths of one of her brown buns and slid it into ther door knob. The cool blues of her home greeted her as she stepped in and locked the door behind her. Throwing her things on to the ground and toeing her shoes off she started down the hallway, peeling her clothes off as she went. She enter the bathroom and turned the water on hot. As she waited for it to heat up she took down the buns and unbraided them, letting her chocolate colored hair rest on her shoulders. She took a moment to admire herself, glad for the fact that she was much larger breasted than Sakura. With a small smile she stepped into the shower and went about getting clean, using her favorite shampoo that smelled like mint and tea leaves.

Once the process of showering was complete she stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off, wrapping the pastel blue towel around her otherwise bare body and made her way to her room. With that same small smile in place she opened her drawers and pulled out a new outfit. She put on a pair of panties first then pulled on the sports bra like blue top, next she pulled on the matching bottoms that billowed and yet clung to her legs tightly just under the knees. She then grabbed her new jacket, one that was similiar to the fourth hokage's, if not for the fact that it was styled in a "blue fire" fashion and made her way back to the bathroom to put her hair up again. Once this task was complete she pulled on her shoes and left to get food.

**Well that's the end of the first chapter, let me know what you think. Here were the songs I used in writing it.**

**Stuttering - Ben's Brother**

**Daylight Robbery - Imogen Heap**

**Just for Now - Imogen Heap**

**Shh - Frou Frou**

**Snow White Queen - Evanescence**

**Good Enough - Evanescence**

**Have you got it in you - imogen heap**

**Here I Stand - Madina Lake**

**Cloud Nine- Evanescence**


	2. Phobia

**Hey, welcome to Chapter 2! As usual I own nothing, not even the words, as they belong to everyone. Yeah... Well, the story will begin moving at a faster pace soon, but be fore we can have that I need you to vote on a pairing.**

**Go Ahead and pick one of these (a few a crack pairings):**

**LeeTen -**

**KankuTen - 1**

**NaruTen - **

**NejiTen (Don't much care for this one but I should be fair) -**

**HinaTen - **

**TemTen - **

**Feel free to suggest others if your favorite is not up here.**

A Chance To Shine:

_**Phobia**__ - _

_1. A persitant, abnormal and irrational behavior of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous_

_2. A strong fear, dislike, oraversion._

_Alone you find yourself just hanging,_

_and to fill the hole you cling to all that seems_

Tenten glared down at the cup of sake that rested infront of her for a few moments before picking it up and proceeding to take a sip. The alcohol of said drink hummed behind her lips and left a tingling trail as it slid down her throat and warm in her stomach. She then picked up her chopsticks and continued the process of devoring her meal, mongolian beef and white rice. A small "ahem" brought Tenten's gaze upward and into the white eyes of no other than Hyuuga Hinata. The Hyuuga princess bowed her head slightly and smiled at Tenten.

"Good evening Tenten-chan," Hinata said in a calm voice, she had lost her habit of stuttering awhile back.

"Good evening," Tenten intoned and gestured to the seat across from her, "please sit."

"I hope I'm not intruding," Hinata responded as she took the seat and rested her cream colored hands on her lap.

"Not at all," Tenten responded and placed another piece of her dinner between her lips, "I was just finishing."

_To hide the little girl that's crying,_

_underneath the rage that you let others see,_

Hinata smiled softly at Tenten, she could sense the hidden anger and saddness behind Tenten's eyes, she knew it must be regarding her cousin. It would seem he had no time for the brunette who had perhaps at one point loved him. "It's good to see you," Hinata said as Tenen's raised her glass to her lips, "Neji doesn't bring his teammates home often enough."

Tenten swallowed her drink solemnly, "he prefers to work alone," she said after a time. Tenten's tone of voice hinted at the fact that Neji had said this often enough that she was used to it; but not at all over the fact that he did not seem to care about her.

"A grave mistake," Hinata replied nodding her head, "he's missing what is right in front of him." Tenten watched Hinata for a moment, trying to figure out the meaning behind the soft girl's words.

"Oh," Hinata said and began to stand up, "the food I'm suposed to take home is done. Thank you for allowing me to stay and talk a turn with you," she added and smiled once more Tenten before collecting her order and leaving the resturant.

_'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow,_

_while others look at you on show,_

_you're dancing dirt into the snow,_

_while all around you people grow,_

Having exited the resturant Tenten drew her jacket closer to her and exhaled slowly, the streets had darkened. Tenten continued on her way, her body moving of it's own accord whiled her mind was up in the sky among the stars. Well at least Hinata knew who she was, but then Hinata was so kind she even fell in love with losers. Well she had, Naruto wasn't much of a loser nowadays as he was back when they were just kids. But, at the same time he was still just as dumb and immature, and he still could be found at Ichiruka's, eating twice his weight in ramen. Glancing to her right, Tenten's chocolate eyes looked toward the ramen shop, half expecting him to be there. But of course he wasn't, he was away, with Sakura and Lee. They should be back with a few more days...right?

_And watch you bleed,_

_and watch you bleed,_

Sighing Tenten once more produce her key from her right bun and unlocked her door, the darkness of her home alerting her senses. She could never be too careful, slowly, Tenten brought her hand up and hit the light switch. Instantly the front room was filled with yellow light and a sense of security began to flow through Tenten. She turned around and pulled the door closed and locked the locks. Slowly she made her way down the hallway and towards her room, her sense of security ebbing the further she got. And that same feeling of anxiety that had come about her every night since so long ago that she could no longer remeber what started it, began to flow through her. Never once had she told anyone this sad secret, she was afraid of the dark, of what lay hidden around her. Her secret she hoped to keep for as long as possible, as far as anyone knew she had no fears, no one cared to ask. Biting her lip she swipped her hand across the light switch of her bed room and went back to the front room.

_So now you look at me eyes wooden,_

_an anchor through your head; crimson for disguise,_

_an opal for a wound you carry, heavy lights of pleading someone look at me,_

Snapping that light off, Tenten imediatly made a mad dash for her bright bedroom, tears swelling behind her eyes; as if she might burst if she didn't make it back to her room in only a second. Letting out a sigh of relief, Tenten leaned on her wall and opened her eyes. Now that she was in her room, it didn't seem so bad, at least it wasn't storming...then she would be positivily terrified. Darkness and storms, perhaps this fear was caused by her family situation, she never told anyone about it, but she suspected her former teachers knew. She didn't really know or remember her parents, but she unlike the others who suffered this same fate actually seemed normal on the outside. She did not seem too emotionally scarred, or on the brink or insanity. Tenten tiptoed towards her dresser and pulled out a red silk nightgown, setting it onto of her bed she peeled off her day clothes and put it on. She then walked towards her closet and ficked on the light before opening it and digging for her panda light. Once it was found she walked out of the closet, closed the door and turned off the light, staring it as if it might reopen and devour her. After a minute it seemed safe enough, the brunette ninja then strutted over to the eltrical outlit and plugged in the light, once the cute little glass panda was lit up she was able to turn off her light and go to sleep.

"If only they saw my strength," Tenten whispered before falling asleep.

_'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow_

_while others look at you on show_

_you're dancing dirt into the snow,_

_while all around you people grow,_

_and watch you bleed,_

_and watch you bleed,_

_the more you push through broken glass the thicker it becomes, _

_the more you turn on broken worlds, the sooner you will need,_

_the more you push through broken glass, the thicker it becomes,_

_the more you turn on broken worlds, the sooner you will need..._

_a gun,_

_'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow,_

_while others look at you on show,_

_you're dancing dirt into the snow,_

_while all around you people grow..._

_**The song was, "Dancing Dirt Into the Snow" by Missy Higgins. Hope you liked chapter 2. I don't actually know much about Tenten's past, I doubt anybody does, so I had a little freedom with her. I did hint at a few things, and I will continue to until we have a set pairing. Please do vote for one, it would help me greatly. As for Tenten's fear of the dark, it's one of her flaws, I like characters with flaws. It makes them seem more human. Has anyone noticed that something is seriously wrong with Sasuke in Shippuden? He's like invincible now, that's messed up. He seems so fake, that's exactly what I don't like. I wont be make Tenten invisible or any of the characters in the story. So I hope you like them for the fact that I will be making them as human as possible, and trying to convay as many realistic emotions as I can.**_


	3. Discern

**Ah welcome to chapter 3! Well we've only got a few votes cast for the pairings, so please if you like the story vote! I'm going to give each pairing some interaction, so that it just doesn't come out of the blue. Once again, like always, I sadly do not own the characters and words belong to everyone. Oh and I have to make a correcton to my previous two chapters, her eyes aren't cerulean, but I keep writing that. Tenten's eyes look like a mixture of brown, grey and olive green. It really just depends on the scene she's in, but I could've sworn for one epiode she had blue eyes! Oh well, I'll be refering to her eyes as chocolate now or greying brown.**

**Go Ahead and pick one of these (a few a crack pairings, not in any particular order):**

**LeeTen -**

**KankuTen - 1**

**NaruTen -**

**NejiTen - 1**

**HinaTen -**

**TemTen -**

**SasuTen - 1**

**Feel free to suggest others if your favorite is not up here.**

A Chance to Shine:

_**Discern -**_

_1. to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize or apprehend._

_2. to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinct or diffrent; discriminate._

_3. to distinguish or discriminate._

Tenten awoke bathed in light, her blankets kicked onto the floor and her nightgown hiked up to her hips, her black panties exposed. Groaning she yanked down the red silk and covered them back up, her mind still sluggish with sleep. She yawned and stretched cat-like before her eyes finally took notice of the fact that her curtains had been open all night. Silently she cursed her stupidity and hope that no one had gotten an eyefull earlier, quickly and gracefully she slid her fight onto the floor. In one fluid movement she was up and closing the curtains, next she removed her panda light from the wall and set it on her desk. She then padded through her hallway and into the bathroom, to indulge in her usual morning routine.

Fifteen minutes later she exited the bathroom with a cream colored towel wrapped tightly around her, fluidly she made her way back to her room and pulled on a lavender colored bra and matching panties, next she tugged a silver tank top over her head and slid into a pair of black jeans. Grabbing her "blue fire" jacket she returned to the bathroom. Using the side of her fist she wiped away some of the steam that coated her mirror and set about putting her hair up in her usual buns. Still weighed down by exhaustion she made her way to her kitchen and opened her fridge, she glanced over the scarce amount of food that resided in the chill and decided upon having one of her left over riceballs. She nibbled on the riceball as she made her way over to the front door, where her shoes sat on the bambo rug. Quickly she finished her meager breakfast and slid on her shoes, she reached to her right and picked up a black messenger bag that contained her weapons and a few crumpled notes of currancy. With one final yawn she set the bag on her shoulder and opened the door, stepping into the clean sunlight, the welcome light.

As she set about on her way to the training grounds she began to wonder just what on earth she was meant to do, and if she would ever become as well known as her comrads. Just about everyone else had made a name for themselves, even Sasuke who'd abandonned the village, he was a well saught after guy; especially now with his team Hebi. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she hardly knew where she was going, the ground felt familiar, but her eyes could hardly discern where she was. As it was, in this state she hardly noticed that she was about to collide with someone until their shoulders collided and sparks of pain shot up Tenten's arm. Wincing she was suddenly brought back to the reality as a harsh femine voice scolded her.

"Watch where you're going!" A woman with four sandy blonde pontytails shouted, her denim blue eyes dark with anger.

Tenten scowled back at the girl, having suddenly realized just who she was, Sabaku No Temari, the girl who Tenten had suffered a humiliating loss to during the chunin exam. She knew Temari was often in Konoha on buisness for Suna, she was the sand ambasitor ans was constantly taking care of preperations for the next chunin exam. "Hmph!" Tenten responded not liking this chance meeting at all, "**You** should watch where **you're **going."

Temari did not look at all pleased at Tenten's response."Listen, **girlie**," Temari growled emphasizing the word, "I don't have time for games of dominance. Just stay out of my way and I'll return the favor."

Hissing under her breath, Tenten glared at the older kunoichi for a few second before retorting, "No, I think it should be **you** who stays out of my way, I will not tolerate being belittled." She then turned away from Temari and began her journey to the training grounds with a graceful gait. Temari watched the brunette go and frowned, she'd seen that girl somewhere, but obviously wasn't important or she would've remembered her.

Once she had arrived at the training grounds she began to let out her frustration by summoning an assortment or weapons and destroying the newly set up puppets, just imagining them to be the hot-headed sand-nin or the solmn Hyuuga, who paid her no mind these days. Unbeknownest to Tenten she was being watched, Tsunade frowned from her perch up in the trees. "She is certainly strong..." Tsunade muttered, "...but she should be watched, she seems slightly unstable." WIth that the fifth Hokage bounded off in the direction of the Hokage tower, leaving only one other pair of eyes watching Tenten destroy the training dummies.

Later, sensing the impending nightfall Tenten hurridly gather her things back into her messenger bag and darted out from the shadows of the trees, she still had one place to go. Walking almost at a running pace Tenten hurried into the brightly light grocery store and grabbed a shopping basket. She hurriedly paced throught the aisles, grabbing the supplies she need from the shelves. A loaf of bread, a carton of eggs, a jug of milk, a package of fresh meat and another of fish, a packag of water bottles and a package of tea. She brought these items to the nearest empty cashier, who took in Tenten's disheveled appearance and grimaced. Tenten returned the grimace with a scowl and handed over the correct amount of currancy with irritation. She then grabbed the bags inwhich her groceries lay and hurried out of the store and towards her home. She didn't bother to take a slow pace, already she could see the street lights and store lights flickering on to ward off the very darkness that was the cause of her phobia.

The five minutes to get to her home from the store felt like an hour to poor Tenten, and with a small shiver she produced her house key and quickly retreated inside flipping on the light before her fear could take over her. The yellow light gave her comfort and she softly scolded herself for having trained all day, she would need to rest tomarrow, or else she would wear her body out at an early age. Quickly she stalked her fridge up with the new food and prepared a simple meal for herself of fried fish and steamed rice. She ate slowly, taking the time to savor her food and thought back on her day spent in the training area. She could've sworn she had felt something, a small warning feeling that she was being watched.

"That's rediculous," Tenten said to herself, banishing the thought, "no one seems to know who I am around here. But I can't expect much, they've got all the idols they need I guess..." Sighing she picked up her plate and carried it to the sink, absent mindedly she began washing the dish, her eyes focused on the forbidding darkness outside, each shadow seemed more menacing in the dark. Once the task of washing the dishes was complete, Tenten made her way down the hallway and flicked on her bedroom light before going into her bathroom to rinse the sweat off of her skin. She took down her hair and stepped into the hot water, closing her eyes she allowed herself to think. Smiling knowingly she rested her right hand on her chest and sighed as she thought back to the battles she had watched when she was younger and the ones she'd seen recently.

It was not news to Tenten that the males from her village had always been attractive, whether or not they were thin or had rippling muscles. Something about seeing them fight and the smel of adrenaline and horemones always excited her. She would never had it said, but she was a very sensual person and did get excited in the heat of battle; this was of course something that no one knew. The chunin exams had always been a good source of excitement everytime the brunette kunoichi thought about it. With a warm smile Tenten relaxed into her thoughts, recalling each fight as if it were new. Tenten stayed like this until suddenly she was pelted with cold water and knew she'd spent entirly too long under the water and hurridly exited it.

Tenten covered herself with the same cream towel from that morning and ran her brush through her hair before exiting the bathroom and hurrying to her room. She opened her dresser and pulled out her favorite blood red panties and another silk nightgown, this one as white as snow. She yawned and plugged in her pnada light before turning off her light and crawling into bed. Half asleep already she glanced toward her clock which rested by the window and barely registered that the window was slightly open and the curtains were pulled off to the side. But sleep made it hard to discern if this was a dream or not and Tenten, unwilling to get up drifted to sleep with the window in said condition.

As she slept a figure stood over her, observing her hidden in the shadows. The figure stayed for only a short while before brushing a strand of hair away from Tenten's face and exiting her room.

**Hope you liked chapter 3. Just who was the figure? We'll find out soon enough, keep voting for the pairing I'd like to introduce it soon and we have a tie so far.**

**I'd like to take a moment to thank the people who've been favoriting and reviewing the story. It means alot to me, I think perhaps in the next one I might reply to all comment I've recieved thus far.**

**Oh yes and a couple songs I listened to were**

**"Lola" - Superbus**

**"Butterfly" - Superbus**

**"Scandalous" - Misteeq**

**"Famous Last Words" - My chemical Romance**

**and others, forgot to write them down...**

**Until next time!**


	4. Impervious

**Ah we're at the beginning of chapter four, I've narrowed down the choices now, so please if you love the story vote! We have a tie between two boys and one is ahead!!**

**Tenten: Two 'ice cubes' and a boy who plays with dolls...**

**Cara: That's how life goes...Anyway-**

**Sasuke: Hold up! Ahem, I have to make an anouncement! Vote for me, if you know what's good for you! (I'm ahead anyway)**

**Neji: Rather, they should vote for me. Hyuuga's never loose**

**Kankuro: Please, like they'd ever vote for you!**

**Tenten: Hey! Don't I have a say in this. is ignored**

**Cara: ah, well anyway. I don't own Naruto or anything like that, and words belong to everyone. I'd like to say I own myself, but I severly doubt that.**

LINELINELINELINELINE

**Go Ahead and pick one of these (it's been narrowed down):**

**KankuTen - 2**

**NejiTen - 2**

**SasuTen - 3**

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

A Chance to Shine:

_**Impervious-**_

_1. not permitting penetration or passage; impenetrable_

_2. incapable or being injured or impaired_

_3. incaple of being influenced, persuaded, or affected_

Impervious. Hyuuga Neji was impervious. He seemed not at all affected by the scowl Tenten shot at him, this was their first meeting in what felt like months and yet he acted as though she were a burden to be around. He sat, focused on the meal infront of him, all the while Tenten glared at him.

"Well?" She finally aid after about ten minutes of silence.

Upon hearing Tenten's irritated voice, Neji cast his milky colored eyes in her direction, seeming only to irritate her more. No one could read a Hyuuga's eyes, after all what was there to read? Only an irisless and pupilless white surface, that still somehow was able to see everything around them. Complete 360 degree vision, and the ability to see one's chakra points and who knows what else.

Tenten continued to scowl as she spoke, "Are you going to say **anything,**" she stressed the word hoping to get a response out of Neji. But he just continued to watch with the irritating white eyes of his. In a way, Tenten suposed this was his response, his eyes saw everything and she couldn't hide the contempt she felt for that still small emotion she felt for the Hyuuga. Sighing, she decided to change the subject, although she was still seething on the inside.

"Well Neji, have you made any progress with your training?" she asked almost scathingly.

"As per usual, I have," Neji replied, again he seemed so impervious to her. Nothing she could say seemed to get to him, it just bounced off his invisible sheild.

"Well," Tenten replied, her voice quivvering slightly, "that's great. That's just great!" Frustrated, she felt tears behind her eyes, just how far ahead of her was he now? She should be training, but she knew her body wouldn't last long if she kept up this routine she'd developed; training vigorously all day, every day.

Neji regarded her with caution, although he would never show it, he was becoming worried of Tenten. She just seemed to be angry all the time now, frustrated at the world and he wasn't quite sure why. Was it possible for him to be so blind?

Tenten rose from her seat and looked at Neji for only a couple of seconds, she bowed her head slightly her breath shaking a little. "Well Neji, I've been around for far too long," she said shakily, "I'll be departing now." She then exited the room, Neji watching her leave with an emotionless facade. Tenten, once outside the Hyuuga manor leaned against the wall and buried her face in her hands and let a few frustrated tears fall. She'd give just about anything to be strong, to be recognized by her village, by all villages as a truly strong kunoichi, but not matter her attempts they were all ahead of her.

Sniffiling a little, Tenten rubbed her eyes and continued walking, she had no idea where she would go, but she just had to get away from Neji. In th hour she spent with him, he had not said one kind word, in fact he'd been nearly silent the entire time. "How could I ever have loved him?" she asked herself, and yet she knew the answer. He was beautiful, breath takingly and unnaturally beautiful and se'd always seemed to fall for the pretty boys, especially when they were strong to boot. There was nothing better than watching them fight, the excitement it brought stirred her deep within. Thinking back on the question she answered herself in a voice barely above a whisper, "I still do love him, but only a little. It is not a strong as it was when we were genin, I doubt it will ever be."

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

Tenten sat on a bech near the market, her chocolate eyes watching the clouds blankly. She could see how Shikamaru liked this, it was so easy to loose yourself in the white of them and drift off to your own worlds. Sighing softly Tenten was content for now, her earlier breakdown washed from her mind and only the aching bareness caused her pain right now.

"Tenten!" an all too familiar voice called.

Tenten smiled and looked to the direction of the voice to see Lee running up to her. "Hello Lee," Tenten said softly, it was hard to be angry at the happy green spandex clad ninja. He was just like aprotective, goofy brother, "did you just get back from your mission?"

"Yes!" Lee cheered tossing a fist up to the sky and bringing it down swiftly to his side, "everything went smoothly!"

"Good to hear," Tenten replied, knowing her smile would vanish soon enough, the awful thoughts were returning to her.

"I spent some valuable time with Sakura-chan!" Lee continued. Yes, he still loved Sakura, but he was not nearly as intense or weird as he had been in his no younger years. And he no longer completely freaked Sakura out, she treated him like a good friend.

Tenten's smile faded slightly, "that's great Lee, but shouldn't you be reporting into Tsunade-sama?"

As if this realization just dawned on him Lee immediatly jumped up. "Oh yes! Right! I nearly forgot! I bet Sakura and Naruto are way ahead of me!" Lee said and gave Tenten a quick hug, "I'll see you later. We can train!" Lee shouted.

Sighing Tenten watched Lee go, already he was a speck in the distance. She was not sure if she wanted to train with him, the monster that stirred within her and drove her to her extreme feelings of despair and jelousy, and anger. She knew, if Lee ever encountered the monster, or anyone she 'loved' for that matter would get hurt. It wouldn't matter that she did not mean to, it would happen, Tenten could sense it. Frowning to herself, Tenten made her way back home.

LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE

**"Nolita Fairytale" by Vanessa Carlton is what I was listening to while typing these responses. Newest to oldest**

**Anonymous - Well thanks to your vote and my need to keep checking the reviews every ten minutes, Sasuke is ahead**

**Shining Kitsune - I'm glad that you love the story. I'll try to update as often as I can, I'm suposed to be asleep now.**

**MarMar17 - I counted both your votes, since I'm not suposed to pick myself. I said I would let all of you vote and this is it. Hope you keep reading**

**Fellyuy - I love the love! Tenten is so awsome, I hope I convay her well.**

**Anonymous - Yes, because we all know it's true. Sure Sakura may have gained some, but she's still a flat as a board**

**Sailor Kuniochi - Your vote was cast!**

**xTxNxLx - You've commented on all chapters so far, thanks! I corrected my mistake, last chapter. I have a tendancy to write (speak) without thinking.**

**Limecake- As for where the story is heading you'll have to wait and see. The romance? Yes. I'm a shojo fan, where would the tory be without the romance:)**

**That's all for now! Keep on reading!**


End file.
